Luna seemed really out of it after she woke up. She could hardly remember the conversation we had. It was like she could fall over at any moment. I stuck with her for a while to make sure she was ok.
"I'm sorry I'm such a problem." she said, "I must not have been well yet."
"Lets get you back to your room so you can sleep." I said, "I can't have my new friend sick all the time."
"Thank you." She wobbled a little and bumped into me. "Sorry."
"Jeez, you don't look so good."
"I'll be fine." she said, "It's just a cold."
"Good." 'She's lyin'. She's really sick. Celestia needs to see her, now.'
I saw the guards outside her door.
"Hey, we need some help over here!" I said.
They took one look at us and quickly rushed over.
"Her sickness is back again. I'll go get Celestia." I said.
"No, stay here." she said weakly, "With me."
The guards looked at each other, then nodded. "I'll go get the Princess." one said.
Luna walked to her bed and crawled on it.
"Ma'am, are you well?" asked her guard.
"I'm fine. I'm completely fine."
Her appearance betrayed her words. She was completely drained.
"Goodnight, Luna." I said.
She didn't respond.
'Damn, this is bad.' I took a deep breath. 'Ok... Ok. Calm down, buddy. Getting worked up over it isn't gonna help you any more than it will her. Luna will be fine. She has to be, she's a main character. Kinda.'
I leaned against the wall. 'What caused this?'
Celestia quietly came into the room and looked over her sister.
"This isn't good." she whispered.
I walked out of the room. Celestia followed me, then said, "What did you two do?"
"Nothing." I said, "Not enough to cause that, at least. We just talked, and then she fell asleep against me."
"Against you?"
"I want to find out why she's so weak all of the sudden. Luna's a strong pony."
"Don't worry about her so much. This has been happening for almost a month now, this on-and-off sickness. They haven't been getting worse, but I've had to take over her duty raising the moon again. It's left me exhausted. She'll be fine. She just needs some time, as you have said."
'Both are weak and exhausted. Jotting that down in the 'probably shouldn't, but will forget anyways' journal.'
"Fantastic. Just... fantastic. Don't you ponies have some kind of magical... something that cures all... things?"
"Not that I am aware of." she said.
"Isn't there something I could do for her? I don't like sittin' around."
"I've tried everything." she said, "The only thing we can do is wait."
I gave it some thought, but couldn't get anywhere. "This sucks."
"I agree."
I took a deep breath. "I'm gonna wait for her. I won't feel right doing anything else."
"You seem very attached to her."
"Hey, Luna's my friend. Besides, she asked me to stay."
"She did?"
"Yeah."
"Strange."
"I know. We just met each other this morning. I'm gonna go back in there."
Celestia followed me back in. I looked at Luna, then leaned against the wall again. Celestia looked between me and Luna.
She started thinking hard about something. A little while later, her eyes opened wide in realization. I looked at her.
"I need to go." she said.
I nodded. After she left, I walked over to Luna and studied her, but didn't see anything that helped.
I sat on a chair, and waited. I looked at the clock. 4:00.
'I haven't eaten in like five hours. Meh, I'll be fine. I'll get something before I go to sleep or something.'
Luna hadn't changed in the slightest. She just laid there and looked cute.
'Why did she sleep on me like that if she had this awesome bed like twenty feet away? This doesn't make any sense. Unless... unless it does. I guess she might... like me. But after just two hours? And me? Me? Wait, she was just delirious from being so exhausted. That makes more sense. I guess I'll find out when she wakes up.'
I sighed. 'This is boring. And to think, if I wasn't here, I'd be playing some Modern Photosynthesis Shit 2 right now. I know which I'd prefer.'
There was a knock on the door, then it opened without waiting for a response. Discord walked in. He was smaller than normal, probably for convenience.
He took a look at Luna, then at me. He didn't seem very happy.
"Well, she's my friend too." he said to me, "You must be the human I've heard about. I must say, it's amazing that you're here. Humans aren't supposed to be in Equestia."
I shrugged. "You must be..."
"You don't have to pretend around me. I know all about the show and you bronies and all that."
"Alrighty then. So what's up?"
"I'm just checking on her. She shouldn't be so sick."
"Alright, cool."
He walked over to me. "You got a big adventure in front of you, kid. You know that, right?"
"Absolutely. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, I suppose."
"This must be so boring for a someone like you."
"Yep."
"Sucks to be you. I'll see you later, kid. I have something I have to do."
"Right."
He left. I thought about what I could do, but didn't get anything. 'I'm bored, case closed.'
I didn't have any trouble falling asleep this time. I didn't get any weird dreams either.
I woke up a few hours later. Or maybe even further away. Didn't really matter.
"Come." I heard.
"Your fuck?" I asked.
"This way."
I got up and followed the voice. Luna wasn't in her bed anymore.
It led me through the castle to a dead end.
"Secret passage?" I asked it, poking an ajar brick. The wall opened up in front of me. "I love being right."
It led into a dark staircase. I didn't see any torches, tinderboxes, lanterns, or oil around, so I said, "Screw this, I'm going back to bed."
I felt somepony push me in, then the wall closed. I backed up to the wall. "Fuck you... and all that you stand for." I said, shaking a little.
'It's too dark. It's way too dark. Holy crap... It's dark. Dark... dark... dark...' I don't know if I mentioned this, but I'm terrified of dark places.
"Proceed."
"Sc-screw you." I said.
"Move!" the voice shouted.
I realized I had no choice and took a few deep breaths. "You can do this, man. You can do this."
I started singing a song to myself to keep my mind off of the darkness. It kinda helped.
I slowly moved down the stairs. Whoever was making me do this was a twisted individual. Almost as twisted as my neck was gonna be if I missed a step.
Eventually I made it to the bottom. I was greeted by none other than Nightmare Moon... again.
"This is... this is getting kinda old." I said.
"Come with me." she said.
"Well, a civil confrontation for once."
"With me." she said.
I walked up to her, then she led me down the hallway.
"Do you know why I've brought you here?"
"Strategical advantage for a future battle? Make a quick getaway in here."
"Celestia is the only one who knows of this place other than myself. It's a way out of the castle. We may talk in peace here."
"And you couldn't come to me in my dream because?"
"You forget your dreams, and I need you to remember this."
"Fair enough."
"From now on, I will join you while you live." she said, "You will serve me while consciously receiving my orders."
"I don't have any problems so for." I said.
"Physically, you won't be able to tell anypony. Not even Luna. I simply won't let you."
"Alright."
"Not even a complaint? You're making this too easy for me, human."
"If I have no choice, then I have no choice. Why fight a battle I can't win, Nightmare? Do you hear me? Why fight a battle you can't win? Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
"This isn't a game, you know." she said.
"It is to me. Life is just a game, and you gotta keep playing, even if you're losing. I refuse to lose something I can win, but if I can't, then I'll do my best to help the other players."
"You speak very strangely."
"That's what happens when... Anyways, I have some questions." I said, "Are you the reason that my sleep schedule is all messed up?"
"Yes I am."
"Are you affecting Luna?"
"Partly. She did genuinely have a cold, though. I didn't intend to keep her bedridden. The weaker she is, the weaker I am."
"Will the Princesses be able to find you out on their own?"
"I don't believe that they are able to."
"Are you my friend?"
"We are enemies, human. Do not forget that."
I nodded. "You're using me to gain power, but what exactly is it that does it for you? Despair? Pain? Sorrow?"
"Negative energy." she said.
"Alright. Hey, if you succeed in your struggle against these ponies, will I get anything out of it?"
"I'll reward you if you deserve it."
"And if you fail... Will we be friends then?"
"I will not fail."
"Just answer my question."
"Why do you want to become my friend so badly?"
"Quit avoiding the question and answer me."
"I'll think about it, human. For now, return to where you slept, and remember... I'm always watching."
She disappeared. I felt her enter my mind. It was strange, like a part of myself I couldn't access. I realized that if I was able to get pass her barrier, I could get access to her thoughts and emotions.
I walked back up the stairs in the pitch blackness. For some reason, just knowing that somepony, even her, was with me made me feel so much braver.
The wall opened up. Nopony was outside it, so I quickly headed back to Luna's room.
She was still sleeping. 'Ok, this is getting kinda repetitive.' I thought, 'Man, if something new doesn't happen soon, I'm gonna freak out.'
I sat back in my chair.
'Nightmare, you there?'
'I am.'
'If you really want to beat the ponies, we'll have to work together. If we don't, then you can kiss your goals goodbye.'
'I already know that.'
'We could just go on a killing spree, you know? Take them all out one by one. It'd be easy. We got our first target right here. Just a little jerk to the neck. She won't feel a thing.'
'I may be evil, but I'm not that evil.'
'I'm just kiddin' around.'
'Don't kid like that.'
'Whatever, I'm going to bed.'
I managed to fall asleep again.
"Spike, did you find anything?" asked Twilight.
"No, nothing."
"Keep looking, it has to be here somewhere."
"Do you even know what you're looking for?"
"Of course I... well..."
"I was having a good dream, Twilight. And you just had to wake me for this."
"Hey, I'm trying to help my friend!" she said.
"Sorry." he said, "I just don't think you have any books that can help."
"We already went through the royal Canterlot library. There has to be something here."
"I don't know, Twilight. What do you have that the Princesses don't?"
She sighed. "I... suppose you're right. You can go back to bed. I'm going to keep this up for a while."
"Good luck, Twi." Spike headed back to his bed.
"There has to be something." she said.